What a Weekend, Kerala!

This weekend's trip was not what I expected, to say the very least. I guess I should have realized that going to three cities in five days and having a relaxing vacation is kind of paradoxical. Especially in India, where traveling can go so wrong. And, on this particular journey, it felt like anything that could go wrong did.

In some ways, getting through the weekend felt like a test. India was saying-- You can't proudly go home to America until you jump through these ridiculous hoops and over these impossible hurdles! India threw us curve ball after curveball and we dodged one after another, committed to staying safe and maintaining a positive attitude. During our orientation, we were told that most people either love India or hate it, and Suzanne and I had absolutely joined Team Love. But, this weekend, Kerala tested our loyalty, asking-- Will you still love me when you're disappointed and sick and dirty and tired? 

The three main things that I wanted to do in Kerala-- rent a house boat, visit Jew Town, and trek in Munnar-- did not happen. We spent a total of 10+ hours on a cramped public bus. In addition to all of this busing, we also walked, ran, taxi-ed, rickshaw-ed, ferryed, canoed, flew, and rode a train. It was a truly exhausting amount of travel. We slept in a different hotel each of the five nights (meaning our heavy bags were on our backs a lot). Suzanne got sick from one of our dinners and I broke my big toe nail in half. It rained all day on the only day we could go to the beach. One day was so chaotic that we didn't eat a real meal from one lunch to the next. The dinner and breakfast between consisted of rest stop snacks (cashews, dates, banana chips, chocolate, and chai), which we lived off of for almost 24 hours. We arrived in one city around 11pm, only to have to leave the next morning by 5am. We got to the airport by 6am and waited for eight hours until we could fly out at 2pm. Hotels lost our reservations and we made reservations that we didn't keep. I took two ice cold showers and one hot "shower" with buckets. I think this is painting the picture without chronicling every outrageous incident-- the weekend was kind of a mess.

Let me say, whole heartedly, that there is no one in this world that I would have rather had as a travel partner than dear Suzanne. I have a tendency to take on people's happiness and comfort as my personal responsibility, but Suzanne never let me feel guilty for all of the misfortunes out of my control. We made each other laugh when we had more reason to cry. At one point, we started cursing every aspect of the town of Munnar by whispering the most creative, vindictive insults into each others ears as we rode out of the town on a crowded bus. We were upset, but somehow made humor out of the ludicrous circumstance and kept each other smiling. We ate too much chocolate and didn't judge. We killed the many idle hours with fabulous conversations reflecting on our semester with fun hypothetical questions, like-- If you were gifted international round trip tickets to anywhere that never expired, where would you go and when? If you could only eat one thing you have eaten this semester for the rest of your life, what would it be? If you could open a hotel in India, where would you pick and what would it be like? This great game let us think about all sorts of things that were much more fun than the constant planning and re-planning that consumed way too much of our mental energy.

We really did try to make lemonade out of lemons, even though ours were rotten old lemons and we had dirty water and no sugar. Thank goodness, there really were a few positives to focus on. I discovered Kerala porotta, which may be my new favorite food. The people in Kerala were MUCH friendlier than those in Hyderabad. We were driven by the nicest rickshaw driver, who basically gave us an unsolicited tour and even stopped the ride to take a picture of us with the pretty backdrop we were passing. (If you knew half of the experiences that I have had with rickshaw drivers in the city of Hyderabad, you would realize how straight astounding this was.) We also befriended a cooky middle-aged woman from the UK, with whom we shared a canoe ride through the backwaters of Alleppy with endless interesting conversation about love, marriage, work, travel, food, and poverty. We spent one night at a homestay in the hilltops of Munnar, which I think now rivals Darjeeling for the most beautiful place on earth. Just hilltop after hilltop, lined with tea farms and half covered in clouds. We went to a museum where we learned about the Munnar's history, which basically has a lot to do with ethical businesses and empowering laborers. LOVED IT!

All and all, it was quite a trip. Maybe not the most fun or the most satisfying, but definitely memorable. And I am actually still really glad that we went. Kerala taught me that I am not invincible and I cannot do everything. But I can do somethings against the odds, and when the other things are disappointments, I can cope. I learned that I can plan every detail perfectly and still cannot stop cities from going on strike or buses from being delayed. Roughing it to new extremes heightened my gratitude for the fairly cushioned life I lead in Hyderabad and the comforts of America to which I will soon return. I learned that I like pushing my limits and trying new things, but there is a certain level of safety and comfort that I do require. And, missing out of some of our plans gave me a few more reasons to come back to India one day.


When I got back to Hyderabad and the best hug from Uncle, I was relieved to have survived the trip. But, considering the circumstances, I would say we thrived. We jumped through the hoops and over the hurdles and ate some delicious food and took some beautiful pictures and laughed a lot and made memories and learned about India and ourselves. And yes, I am still on Team Love, so take that, Kerala!